Hey, Congress! I know you aren't listening and don't care, but ya oughta take a look at this anyway

my comment is #9...

House pushes for ‘phone jamming’ probe of White House

Today, members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department seeking answers about “phone jamming” and voter suppression tactics in past elections. In particular, the letter pushed for an aggressive investigation into White House participation, expressing concern that “the FBI Special Agent working this matter allegedly was instructed not to follow investigative leads back to Washington.” 4:24 pm | Comment (9)

Filed under:

Posted by Ali at 4:24 pm

Permalink | Comment (9)

Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date

1. Another letter to the so called Justice Department.

   “Huh, the door on this postal box won’t open, seems like it’s all jammed up with mail…..”

   Comment by Nevar — October 3, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

2. Democrats, stop writing GD letters. Take action. Subpoena and then use Inherent Contempt. It is the only tool you have. I am beginning to think that you like things the way they are because you are doing nothing to change things.

   Comment by bilbobaggins — October 3, 2007 @ 4:27 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

3. This won’t go anywhere. Dems don’t have the balls to really do what needs to be done. Impeach the Chimp.

   Comment by leftcoast — October 3, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

4. Don’t start something that you know you won’t finish!

   Comment by Menehune — October 3, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

5. Do they really think we believe them anymore?

   Comment by texaslady — October 3, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

6. yes! finally!….. sarcasm ON.

   Comment by Fan of Man — October 3, 2007 @ 4:39 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

7. …and another letter gets wadded up and tossed into a White House wastebasket…

   Comment by missmolly — October 3, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

8. Why do they even bother ? Of course that is easier than actually getting our troops home or writting a healthcare bill. Gee, answered my own question.

   Comment by texaslady — October 3, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

   
   

9. wow… another letter… gosh… color me unimpressed… who are they writing those letters FOR…? better yet, WHY…?

   And, yes, I DO take it personally

   Comment by profmarcus — October 3, 2007 @ 4:48 pm
   Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

no cynicism or frustration here... no-o-o-o-o-oooooo sireeeeeeee...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Suppressing the vote on two fronts and, natch, the DOJ refuses to testify

a two-pronged strategy for voter suppression...

State welfare offices across the country are not offering millions of low-income Americans the opportunity to register to vote when applying for public assistance despite a federal law requiring them to do so, according to an analysis of a recent federal voting registration report and experts who say the Department of Justice and states are to blame.

and...

At the same time, the Justice Department's Voting Section, which enforces voting rights and supervises elections in some states, is pressuring 10 states to do more to purge voter rolls -- or remove ineligible voters -- before the 2008 presidential election, according to letters sent to state election officials this spring.

"We conducted an analysis of each state's total voter registration numbers as a percentage of citizen voting age population," wrote John Tanner, the Department of Justice Voting Section chief, in an April 18, 2007, letter to North Carolina's top election official. "We write now to assess the changes in your voter registration list ... and the subsequent removal of persons no longer eligible to vote."

say, does that name, john tanner, ring a bell...?

from TPMmuckraker yesterday...

The House Judiciary Committee was set to hold a hearing on the Civil Rights Division's voting rights section tomorrow, but no more. That's because the Justice Department has refused to allow the chief of the section, John Tanner, to testify. The committee has postponed the hearing until the Department allows Tanner to appear.

the reason the states aren't complying is because they know the doj won't enforce the law...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Patrick Rogers, David Iglesias, the American Center for Voting Rights, and the Republican National Lawyers Association

so, not only was rogers pushing for iglesias to get the ax while at the same time agitating to be his replacement, he was also an officer (secretary) for the bogus american center for voting rights legislative fund...

noteworthy items from the article...

• [Patrick Rogers, a] New Mexico lawyer who pressed to oust U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was [...] secretary of the non-profit American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund - an activist group that defended tighter voter identification requirements in court against charges that they were designed to hamper voting by poor minorities.

• Iglesias, who was one of nine U.S. attorneys the administration fired last year, said that Albuquerque lawyer Patrick Rogers pressured him several times to bring voter fraud prosecutions where little evidence existed. Iglesias believes that he was fired in part because he failed to pursue such cases.

• Rogers, a former general counsel to the New Mexico Republican Party and a candidate to replace Iglesias, is among a number of well-connected GOP partisans whose work with the legislative fund and a sister group played a significant role in the party’s effort to retain control of Congress in the 2006 election.

now, about that american center for voting rights, and its partner in voter suppression tactics, the republican national lawyers association...

• [T]he American Center and the Lawyers Association were deployed in battleground states to press for restrictive ID laws and oversee balloting.

• The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division turned traditional voting rights enforcement upside down with legal policies that narrowed rather than protected the rights of minorities.

• The White House and the Justice Department encouraged selected U.S. attorneys to bring voter fraud prosecutions, despite studies showing that election fraud isn't a widespread problem.

• Public records show that the two nonprofits were active in at least nine states. They hired high-priced lawyers to write court briefs, issued news releases declaring key cities "hot spots" for voter fraud and hired lobbyists in Missouri and Pennsylvania to win support for photo ID laws. In each of those states, the center released polls that it claimed found that minorities prefer tougher ID laws.

• Of the 15 individuals affiliated with the two groups, at least seven are members of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and half a dozen have worked for either one Bush election campaign or for the Republican National Committee.

• "Their job was to confuse the public about voter fraud and offer bogus solutions to the problem," said Michael Slater, the deputy director of Project Vote, "And like the Tobacco Institute, they relied on deception and faulty research to advance the interests of their clients."

but, check this...

Amid the controversy, the American Center for Voting Rights shuttered its Internet site on St. Patrick’s Day, and the two nonprofits appear to have vanished.

slate has more on the sudden disappearance of the american center for voting rights and its legislative fund...

Imagine the National Rifle Association's Web site suddenly disappeared, along with all the data and reports the group had ever posted on gun issues. Imagine Planned Parenthood inexplicably closed its doors one day, without comment from its former leaders. The scenarios are unthinkable, given how established these organizations have become. But even if something did happen to the NRA or Planned Parenthood, no doubt other gun or abortion groups would quickly fill the vacuum and push the ideas they'd pushed for years.

Not so for the American Center for Voting Rights, a group that has literally just disappeared as an organization, and for which it seems no replacement group will rise up. With no notice and little comment, ACVR—the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem, a problem warranting strict rules such as voter-ID laws—simply stopped appearing at government panels and conferences. Its Web domain name has suddenly expired, its reports are all gone (except where they have been preserved by its opponents), and its general counsel, Mark "Thor" Hearne, has cleansed his résumé of affiliation with the group. Hearne won't speak to the press about ACVR's demise. No other group has taken up the "voter fraud" mantra.

mcclatchy is kicking butt in their news reporting... they're putting all the others to shame... atrios has suggested bookmarking their site or subscribing to their rss... i agree...

p.s. just for giggles and grins, this is a screen capture of the republican national lawyers association homepage...



did you happen to notice who the rnla is thanking for sponsoring their 2007 conference...?



if the name greenberg traurig doesn't ring any bells, it should...

In January 2001, lobbyist Jack Abramoff left Preston Gates & Ellis to join Greenberg Traurig. Abramoff brought a book of business then worth more than $6 million annually to Greenberg Traurig, according to his own estimates.

In 2000, before Abramoff joined the firm, Greenberg had $3.3 million in lobbying fees. After he joined in 2001, the firm took in $16.2 million in fees. By 2002, that number jumped to $17.7 million, and $25.5 million by 2003.[7] The firm became one of the top 10 of Washington lobbying firms, moving from 16th place to fourth, according to the National Journal.

it's SUCH a small world, isn't it...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

If I was in Schlozman's shoes, I wouldn't want to be interrogated by Schumer

wow...! i thought LEAHY was on fire...!

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Leahy to Schlozman: "provide it voluntarily or provide it under subpoena"

leahy's on fire...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Schlozman

i'm not ordinarily prone to making snide personal attacks, but the tone, tenor, and pitch of schlozman's voice makes me want to grab him by the neck and choke the ever-loving daylights out of him... his reputation is one of being very high-handed, arrogant, dismissive, and verbally abusive (certainly a big asset for a loyal bushie), and, with a voice like that, it's a wonder someone hasn't arranged a back-ally encounter a long time ago...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

What an elected representative with INTEGRITY (and a REAL recovering alcoholic) looks like

talk about bringing the issue of voter fraud suppression down to earth... here you have not only THE definitive picture of what karl rove, scott jennings, susan ralston, alberto gonzales, monica goodling, kyle sampson, paul mcnulty, and the rest of the push-for-a-one-party-state crowd have been working so diligently to achieve, but also the clearest picture yet of what kind of a person it takes to stop it...

Against his doctor's advice, a stooped and feeble state Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr. (D) arrives at the Texas Capitol each day, just to make sure his chamber does not take up a bill that would require voters to produce identification at the polls.

[...]

Gallegos is putting his health at risk to block a measure he and others say could prevent many minorities and the elderly from taking part in elections in Texas.

[...]

The Republicans pushing the voter ID bill say illegal immigrants are voting in Texas elections and must be stopped. But Democrats say thousands of legal residents would lose the right to vote because they lack proper identification. Opponents of the measure -- including Gallegos, a Mexican American -- say minorities, the elderly and the poor are less likely than others to have driver's licenses or other documents.

Most of Gallegos's Houston-area constituents are black or Hispanic, and about a quarter of them live in poverty. About one in five speak little or no English.

Doctors say the senator, a recovering alcoholic, should be resting and should be within 100 miles of the hospital where he received the transplant. Austin is about 160 miles from the hospital in Houston.

Under what is known as the Luna Precedent, named for a lawmaker who was hospitalized in the 1990s, legislators can ask for 24 hours' notice that a bill is about to come up. Gallegos was given such notice early this month. But lawmakers can invoke the Luna Precedent only once during a session.

this is not only what a REAL recovering alcoholic looks like (as opposed to you-know-who), THIS is also what an elected representative of REAL integrity looks like, someone who will uphold the constitutional right to vote and never stop doing the job his constituents put him in office to do even if it means putting his own recovery from a liver transplant at risk... gallegos is not only a true hero but an authentic leader... we need lots more like him...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Caging and voter suppression - Greg Palast not only has the goods, he 'splains it all for ya

this is definitive background and most certainly falls into the category of "must-watch..."

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



(thanks to democracy now via les enragés via crooks and liars and courtesy of the brad blog...)

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments